Harry and Amelia Potter

6.4

The roar of the train engine and the scarlet stack of the Hogwarts Express churns furiously towards the horizon.

"Quibbler...? Quibbler...?" Luna moves down the aisle wearing a pair of red and blue cardboard glasses, spectrespecs, identical to the ones modeled by a witch on the cover of the current issue of The Quibbler. She clutched a stack of papers to her chest. "There's an article on Wrackspurts this month. Quibbler...?"

The loitering students ignore her, including Dean Thomas, currently whispering to Ginny, who smiles mildly, more interested in the purple Pygmy Puff perched on her shoulder.

"He's lovely. They've been known to sing on Boxing Day, you know." Luna pets the small creature. "Quibbler?"

"Please." Then Ginny questions, "What's a Wrackspurt?"

"They're invisible creatures that float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy." Luna responds. Then moves off, "Quibbler? Quibbler?"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I move past the commotion of people, finally finding a compartment to ourselves. We take a seat and Hermione already has a book entitled Advance Rune Translation open on her lap, while Ron lets Harry and I's invisibility cloak play through his fingers.

"Don't you see, it was a ceremony." My brother states. "An initiation."

"Stop, Harry, I know where you're going with this-" Hermione rolls her eyes.

"It's happened. He's one of them."

"One of what?" Ron questions, not paying attention to the conversation.

"Harry is under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater." I try to explain.

"You're barking. What would You-Know-Who want with a sod like Malfoy?" Ron asks.

"So what's he doing in Borgin and Burke's? Browsing for furniture?" Harry questions, slightly annoyed.

"It's a creepy shop. He's a creepy bloke."

"Look. His father's a Death Eater. It only makes sense." Then he looks to me. "Besides, Mia saw it. With her own eyes."

"I told you. I don't know what I saw." I tell him.

It's possible, he could be following in Lucius's footsteps, but it's so unlikely. Draco Malfoy is nothing more than a bully. He may torment us during the school year, but that doesn't mean he's a Death Eater.

Harry rises, snatches the cloak from Ron's hands. "I need some air." And with that, he walks out.

"I don't suppose one of us should follow after him?" Hermione asks. I can hear the worry in his voice.

"No, he'll be alright." I reassure her. "He just needs to take a walk, calm himself down."

"He's sounding a bit mad, isn't he?" Ron asks me.

"I don't know why he's so set on Draco being a Death Eater." I admit. "I mean, it's a possibility, but so unlikely."

The train rolls to a stop, Harry is still nowhere to be found.

"Should we wait for him?" Hermione asks.

"He's probably already on his way to the platform." Ron suggests. I nod in agreement.

"I agree." I tell them. "Let's go."

As we make our way off the train, I see a familiar, whimsical face still aboard.

"I'll catch up." I tell Ron and Hermione.

Luna Lovegood wanders down the aisle humming, red and blue Spectrespecs wobbling on the bridge of her nose. I walk up to her.